


The Paths We Choose

by DianaandAlicia



Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:29:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23300929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DianaandAlicia/pseuds/DianaandAlicia
Summary: When Madison attacks Alicia in the bunkhouse, Nick decides that his sister's safety is more important than anything his mom wants, and he's willing to do what he has to to keep Alicia safe. Even if that means picking up and finding a new home, states away, and leaving Madison behind.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 21





	1. Introduction

Hi everyone! 

So, I’ve mentioned this story briefly in the chapter 5 comments of Nights with Her, but this new story is going to change the canon from 3x08 and beyond for FTWD. This is my attempt at a fix-it type story that will completely change season 4 and 5, and make the plot into what was originally planned. 

For those who don’t know, during seasons 1-3, Dave Erickson was the showrunner of Fear. His vision of the future of the show was having Madison throughout the seasons slowly turn into a villain like the Governor on TWD, with Nick and Alicia having to go up against and fight their own mother. Now, personally, I believe that would have made for some good tv. I would have loved to see that, and that’s what I’m going to try to create. 

I could see Alicia’s trust in her mom start to disintegrate from day one, and her leaving in 3x13 showed that she didn’t trust what her mom was doing and she didn’t want to go along with it anymore. Nick’s trust started to dwindle when he found out what Madison did to Celia, and it’s clear to see the shift in their relationship after Madison killed Troy. With hints in season 2 and storylines in season 3, it’s easy to see the start of what Dave Erickson had been planning. Then we got new showrunners for season 4 and chances of the original storyline happening became slim to none. Season 4 retconned the Clark family into a happy loving family, and made Madison look like mom of the year. Now I’m not saying that Madison is the worst mom in the world, but she isn’t a good mother, especially to Alicia, and I am going to explore that in this story too. 

I’m not Dave Erickson, so whatever I come up with is just based off of what I have heard/read on what he had planned for Fear’s future. I’m also going to be using settings and characters from season 4 and maybe 5 later on in the story to help bridge gaps and add characters. 

Just a couple things before everyone gets started: 

  * There will be no massive time skips like in the show canon. 
  * There will be no crossover with twd (no Morgan or Dwight). 
  * Some aspects of the plot will stay the same, but it might be a different character pulling it off. 
  * There will be canon divergence from 3x08 on. 
  * Just because a character is dead in the show, doesn’t automatically mean that they are dead in my story. Any character can show up at any time if I want them to. 
  * The relationships between some characters will be different than in the show, whether it’s romantic, familial, or friendship. 
  * Any other important notes that are not included in this list will be included in the chapters they appear in. 



Thank you, and I hope everyone that chooses to read enjoys this story as it unfolds! 


	2. Crossing Lines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a fight with Madison turns violent, Nick makes the decision that the Otto ranch isn't the safest place for him and Alicia to start over.

“Troy’s alive because we lied for him!” Nick said, contradicting Madison’s argument.

“What?” Alicia asked, this information completely new to her.

“He killed the  Trimbols .” Nick explained, turning to his sister.

“You knew?” She asked, looking at Nick, hoping it wasn’t true, but knowing the answer when he looked away from her.

“Alicia—” Madison cut in, to try and take control of the conversation.

“Gretchen was innocent. And you covered for her killer. All your talk about  family —”

“I know it’s hard to understand.”

“It’s IMPOSSIBLE to understand. You’re just like them. YOU’RE WORSE. YOU’RE HEARTLESS! YOU DON’T HAVE FEELINGS!”

“Alicia—” Nick cut in, trying to prevent her from saying something that could push Madison over the edge.

“No wonder Dad was so depressed; he was living with a Goddamn corpse!”

CRACK!

Nick jumped when he saw Alicia’s head snap to the side, from the force of the blow that Madison landed against her cheek. 

“I never wanted you. I was going to abort you but your father found out before I could and he was so excited that I was pregnant again that I couldn’t go through with it. That’s the biggest mistake I’ve ever made in my life. It should have been you, instead of Travis. I never asked for any of this.” Madison snarled, before stalking over to the door, leaving the bunk house and slamming the door shut behind her.

All was quiet. Nick could see tears well up in his sister’s eyes, more from the pain of being slapped across the face than the hurtful words her mother just said.

Alicia always knew that Madison loved her less than she loved Nick, no matter how many times the mother would try and say different in the past, her actions spoke against her, and now with these latest developments, Alicia knew that it wasn’t that Madison loved her less than Nick, it was that Madison only loved Nick and she hated her, only tolerating her when it was convenient.

“You’re not staying here tonight.” Nick said to his sister, taking her hand and leading her out of the bunk house. “You’ll stay with me in the Adobe.”

“No that’s ok. I can always go visit Jake. I don’t want to bother you.”

“Alicia, it wasn’t a suggestion. I want you to stay with me so I can make sure you’re safe. Plus, you could never bother me.” Nick said, his voice firm. 

“I’m fine.” She said, her voice barely above a whisper. To be honest, Alicia’s never felt lower in her life.

Growing up, when it came to her mother, she was always the last thought of, with Nick always coming first. It wasn’t so bad during her childhood, because Steven always made sure that Alicia came first with him. As a child, Alicia didn’t see herself as neglected, because even though her mother practically ignored her, her father still gave her the time of day and all the love that he could provide. That’s the difference between her mother and father. Steven loved Nick and Alicia equally, while Madison clearly had a favorite.

When Steven’s depression started to get worse, that’s when everything changed. Alicia had to fend for herself most days after school, because Madison was too busy working later at the school to take care of her. After Nick started doing drugs, things got worse. Madison was focused on him, and to outsiders who didn’t know any better, they would probably think that she only had one child. Steven couldn’t bear to be at home much of the time so he often worked late. With Madison visiting Nick at the hospital or rehab center once his drug addiction took over, and Steven working late, Alicia had to take care of herself most nights, and as a young teenager, that meant that her supper options were limited to cereal or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Even if she was at an age where Madison didn’t care if she used the stove or oven, there were times when there weren’t many groceries coming into the house, and there wasn’t much to work with. Alicia had to do the best with what she could.

Steven killed himself when Alicia was fifteen, and by then, she was 100% self-reliant. She was able to take care of herself and the house. Most of the chores that needed to be done in the house were done by Alicia, and even if she never got the recognition or thanks by her mom, she still felt proud walking around the house, knowing it looked well kept, and it was all her doing.

In order to keep her mind off of her mother, Alicia kept herself busy in regards to school. Besides taking advanced classes and getting perfect grades in every one of them, she also did many extra curriculars, being on the debate team, being president of the Spanish club, and also taking part in the Math club that was on campus too.

She tried to stop caring what her mother thought long ago, but there were times where in the old world she did want her mom to notice her, to tell her that she was proud of her. Those moments never came. At least not in private. Madison pretended to at least care a little in public, but when they were at home, she didn’t take any interest in her daughter’s life. Now, with this new world, Alicia didn’t know why she cared so much, maybe it was because in the old world, she could have moved away after college, and cut her mother out of her life. If Madison wasn’t going to put in any effort to have a better relationship with her, Alicia didn’t see why she had to do the same. Now in this new world, it was safer for the family to stick together, safer with a larger group. She was trapped and trying to receive Madison’s approval was how she now stayed alive. It was just now that she realized that getting on her mother’s bad side was sooner or later, a death sentence.

Alicia always wondered if she did something wrong, why she wasn’t good enough for her mom, and now she finally got the answers, after being beaten in the bunk house on the Otto ranch. She was treated this way because her mother hated her, and didn’t want her in the first place. If Steven hadn’t found that pregnancy test, Alicia wouldn’t even be here right now.  _ Not that that’s a bad thing _ . Alicia thought to herself before Nick’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

“You’re not fine. You’re staying here.” Nick said, gesturing to the little house he finished renovating, the tone in his voice telling Alicia that the decision was final.

As soon as he finished saying that, he added. “We’re leaving tomorrow. Both of us.”

“What? Where would we go?” Alicia asked.

“I don’t know, but I’m not going to just stand here and wait for Mom to do something horrible to you. If she’s willing to slap and yell at you tonight, she’d be willing to kill you if she got mad enough. There are no laws now, nothing to stop her from doing something truly awful, and I don’t want you to get hurt anymore.”

“But there’s nothing out there but desert, where would we go?”

“Well if we go far enough East, the desert will end. I don’t have a specific place in mind, but we need to go to a place where we can start over. We can grow crops, hunt, find a water source. Whatever we’d find, would be much better than staying here.”

Nick then looked at Alicia to see what she thought.

“You can go, I don’t want to bother you.”

“You’re coming with me. I’d never leave you behind, not while I’m alive and kicking.”

Alicia just stared at Nick, sighing. “I just don’t want to burden you like I’ve burdened Mom. You deserve better than having me tag along, bugging you the whole time.”

“Alicia, as your big brother, it’s my job to protect you. I’ve done a shit job with that for the past few years. I wouldn’t be protecting you if I left you to deal with our abusive mother by yourself. No, you’re coming with me, so we can start over and so you can heal from all the damage she caused.”

Eventually, Alicia nodded, and Nick smiled. He knew that what Madison said earlier made Alicia’s self-esteem take a hit, and with depression being in the family, he didn’t want to take any chances. They needed to leave as soon as possible.

“Tomorrow, I’m  gonna talk to Troy. See if he’d be willing to give us a couple rations and some water to get us started.” He said, before going over to the bed and pulling the covers back. After they took their shoes off, Alicia got in bed first, and then Nick on the other side. They made the arrangement this way, so if Madison came storming up there looking for Alicia, she was closest to the wall, and harder for Madison to get to.

“Alicia?” Nick asked, just as he shut the light off.

“Yeah?”

“Just know, that I love you and I’m glad you’re here.”

“Thank you. Love you too.” Alicia said quietly, not knowing what to think. It’s been years since she heard somebody say that they loved her in a familial sense, and actually mean it. Madison was lying though her teeth every time she said it, and Matt didn’t count, because he was her boyfriend. The last time a family member said that to her was when her dad was still alive, so Alicia had no idea how to react. It’s been so  long; the feeling wasn’t familiar to her anymore. 

Nobody else said anything and it wasn’t long until the Adobe was silent, the only sound to be heard was the crickets chirping in the night.


	3. Heading Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick and Alicia make a break for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! First off, I wanted to thank everyone who's read the first chapter so far and is enjoying the beginning of this story, your support means a lot! Second, I wanted to say that this chapter, along with the first might seem a bit boring or less action packed, but I wanted to get to a starting point, and now that I've taken care of that, I'm planning on having more action and an exciting story with chapter 3 and beyond. The chapters will also be longer once we get into the story more.
> 
> Now, before we begin, I wanted to talk about the serious stuff. I'm still in school right now but because of COVID-19, I'm doing my online classes from home. Because of this, I will have a little more time to write during the week, but until the middle of May, expect slower updates for this story, like maybe once a week or every two weeks. Once the school year ends however, I'll have more time to update!

Nick woke up bright and early the next morning to the sound of one of the roosters on the ranch crowing. He got out of bed right away, since he wanted to leave with Alicia after lunch time. 

After Nick put his shoes on, he left the Adobe and went down to the meal tent where he saw Troy getting some coffee.

“Hey Troy, can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Yeah, sure. What’s up Nicky?”

“Alicia and I, we need to leave.”

“Leave? Why?”

“It’s not safe here anymore.”

“Are you talking about the Nation?”

“No. It’s not the Nation. It’s about my mom.”

“What about her?”

“She attacked Alicia.”

“Is Alicia ok?”

“Yeah. Just a bit shook up. Mom slapped her, but she mostly yelled at her, telling her that she wished she had aborted her, how she should have died in Travis’ place, that kind of stuff.”

“That’s fucked up.”

“Yeah. I’m just thinking, if she’s willing to be that cruel, I’m just afraid of what she might do if Alicia makes her really angry.”

“Do you think your mom would kill her?”

When Nick was silent, Troy looked at him and could tell just from his facial expression that that was exactly what he was thinking.

“Does Madison know you’re planning on leaving?”

“No. And I don’t really want her to find out until after we’ve left.”

“And why are you coming to me? This isn’t a cult Nick. You can leave if you want to, you don’t need my permission.”

“I know, but I was wondering if we could take a little bit of water and some food rations just to get started.”

“I think we can spare some food and a case of water. That’s fine.” Troy said quietly.

“Will your dad be fine with it?”

“He doesn’t have to know.” Troy said plainly. “Plus, nowadays he’s too drunk to know what’s going on around here. When were you planning on leaving?”

“I was thinking early afternoon.”

“Ok. You know the dark brown pickup over by the fuel reserves?”

“Yeah?”

“You can take that. I’ll load some rations and water in it, and fill it up with gas. When you guys are ready to leave, you can just pack up your things and go.”

“Are you sure it’d be ok to take a car?”

“Yeah. We don’t really use that one anyway.” Troy dismissed, waving his hand to express that the pickup wasn’t important.

“Troy?”

“Yeah?”

“Compared to how you reacted when the  Trimbols were leaving, why are you letting us leave without a fight?”

“Well Nick, you and your family weren’t founders. I’ve known Mike and his family my whole life. Plus, I admire what you’re doing. I know what it’s like, to have parents that don’t love you, and I always resented Jake for leaving me here when he went off to live in the city and be a lawyer. I always hoped that he’d come back and get me. You’re willing to leave and go into an infected infested wasteland just to protect your sister. You’re a good brother.”

“Thanks Troy.”

“No problem. How about this, I’ll meet you by the fuel reserves twenty minutes after lunch, and that’s when you make a break for it.”

“Sounds good. I just hope my mom doesn’t find out.”

“She won’t. She’s going with Jake to the Nation after lunch, to try and work things out again. You guys can leave while they’re gone. That way when they get back, you’ll at least have a head start.”

Nick nodded when he heard that. 

“Thanks again Troy. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem. See you after lunch.”

Nick nodded again before turning and going back up to the Adobe.

When he arrived, he saw that Alicia was still curled up on the bed, sound asleep. Nick grimaced when he saw an ugly, black bruise adorning her cheek, showing just how hard Madison had slapped her.

_ I wish we had ice _ . He thought, as he looked at Alicia.  _ But, bruises fade. We’re just lucky that’s the only injury she got. It could have been worse _ .

Before he could think anything more, he heard the springs on the mattress squeak, so he looked and saw Alicia waking up.

“Morning ‘Licia. Sleep well?”

Alicia nodded and looked around the Adobe, not really sure of what to say. Nick knew that she still felt bad about what happened the day before, and they noticed that she just looked sad.

“I’m sorry about yesterday.”

“Alicia, you don’t have to apologize for something that isn’t your fault.”

“Do I have to see her today?”

“Not if you don’t want to. I can bring breakfast up here, and we can spend the morning up here too. We’re leaving after lunch.”

“What if Mom tries to stop us?”

“She won’t be here. She’s going to the Nation with Jake after lunch so we don’t have to worry about her knowing until after we’re long gone.”

“Really?”

“Yep. She doesn’t even know that we’re planning on leaving. By the time she even knows, she won’t be able to do anything.”

“I still can’t believe you’re willing to pick up and start over, just for me.” Alicia shuddered, as if she was disgusted. Nick frowned when he heard that. It saddened him to know that she felt that she wasn’t worth it.

Madison really got to her head.

“Alicia, we’re going to go, start over and thrive. We’ll do so well that we won’t even think about her anymore. If I have the chance to make sure that you are safe, I’m  gonna take it, no matter how many times we pick up and move, or how far we have to go.” Nick said, walking over and sitting on the bed next to Alicia. He took his sister’s hands into his and gave her a small smile.

“I know you might not feel that good about yourself right now, but I need you to know that all of that stuff that Mom said yesterday? I don’t believe it, and I never will. I’m glad you’re here Alicia, and you deserve so much better than what you’ve been given.” He said sincerely.

“What are we going to do until we leave?”

“Stay up here, out of Mom’s focus.” Nick answered. “When you’re ready, I can go get some breakfast, and bring it up here. I want your contact with Mom to be little to none until we leave.”

Alicia nodded and went to get ready for the day.

After breakfast, the siblings went back to the bunkhouse to make sure that Alicia had all of her things with her when they set out. Luckily, Madison wasn’t in the building, most likely at the big house, trying to convince Jeremiah to help the Nation, but Nick knew most certainly how that would work out. Once Alicia had her stuff all packed, Nick did the same with his stuff, and the two stayed at the Adobe until lunch time.

Lunch took place in the little house like Nick said it would and once Troy came up and gave the all clear, he took Nick over to the truck that would be waiting while Alicia took care of their lunch dishes. When she gave those back, she made her way over to the truck where Troy and Nick were.

“Thanks again for everything man.” Nick said gratefully, as he and Troy finished putting things in the bed of the truck.

“It’s not a problem at all. Just survive, and make sure she’s ok.” He said, gesturing to Alicia. 

Nick nodded and once the car was filled up, Troy told them what roads to take to avoid crossing paths with their mother, since there’s no telling when she and Jake would be coming back from the Nation.

“Thanks Troy. Maybe we’ll see you again someday.” Nick said as he and Alicia got into the truck.

Troy nodded and smiled at the two, before Nick started the truck and slowly started to drive away, off the Otto ranch and onto the dirt road.

“Where are we going?” Alicia asked, now that it was just the two of them.

“Well, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go down to Mexicali, and find Luciana. That’s where she wanted to go when we talked about leaving. She knew people there.”

“I don’t mind. As long as we’re away from  _ her _ .” Alicia said, settling in the seat, taking in the bland desert scenery that passed by.

Nick nodded and smiled to his sister, happy that their fresh start was now beginning.

“Alright. On to Mexicali.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> I hope everyone stays safe and healthy, practice social distancing, stay home as much as you can, and please wash your hands. If you're an essential worker who is putting your life and wellbeing at risk to help others, I appreciate all that you are doing, and I hope that you stay safe as well during these uncertain times.


End file.
